October 31

Technological History of Video Games

The First Generation (1972-1977)

Technological Innovations:

-This was the era of home dedicated consoles.

-These consoles could only play a limited number of games, which often lacked sound and colour. Most of the games were built into the console.

-Limited Power: discrete circuits with no microprocessors (Until the Nintendo Colour TV-Game 6 in 1977)

Consoles of the time were: Magnavox Odyssey (1972), Home Pong (1975), Nintendo Colour TV-Game 6 (1977)

Game Development:

-Developers were restricted by hardware limitations.

-Most games were often variations of sports games.

Player Experience:

Gameplay was confined to simple mechanics, and players interacted with games in a minimalistic way.

Magnavox Odyssey controller, at this point there was only 1 button, the reset button.

These are images of the game Basketball (1973), as well as its instruction manual, which was very usual for the time for games to have an instruction manual that will explain to the player how to play (similar to board games), as well as provide lore/story/additional information not seen within the game.

Nintendo’s Light Tennis (1977) is a great example of a technological advancement for the time, as it showed early stages of colour being used, as well as a system where it displayed the points of the players, no longer requiring players to “be honest” about their scores, showing the usage of microprocessors being used for video games.

Also, in 1979, Nintendo released the Nintendo TV-Game Block Kuzushi, which also showed a controller that had a “complex” for the time layout, with more buttons being showed. As a fun fact, this controller was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto!, who would later design Mario and Luigi!

The Second Generation (1976-1983)

Technological Innovations:

-Around this time was when the ROM cartridges were being introduced.

-Hardware featured microprocessors and rudimentary graphical displays!

-Consoles could now run multiple games, assisting the concept of expandable game libraries.

Game Development:

-Cartridges allowed developers to store game data externally. Games also became more complex with better visuals and simple AI.

-This time also saw the rise of Third-Party developers. A great example of this being Activision, which rose from 4 developers who left Atari because they were displeased with the treatment they were receiving at Atari.

Atari 3rd party games

Player Experience:

-Players gained more choice, control, and variety in games, adding up to 500 total games to choose from.

-We also saw beloved arcade style games being developed for home consoles!

We could also see the first movement stick with a button as a controller for the Atari 2600

-As mentioned earlier, Activision was created by four developers that moved from Atari, so in their games to avoid players to be confused, they would include their logo at the bottom of the screen so players knew that this was an Activision game and not an Atari game. This example is from the game Pitfall (1982)

-Super Mario (which was originally called Jumpman)

-He was designed with the limitations of the graphics of the time.

-His hat allowed them to not have to animate hair.

-Moustache and large nose:

gives him a personality with minimum graphics.

-Red costume and blue costume:

Distinguishes avatar from background and provides contrast!

Mario’s design shows us that when we are designing for a game, we must take into consideration that our concept and our work has to be taken with the idea of “how will this translate to a game format?”, Mario’s sprite design shows a vibrant and distinct character that’s easily recognizable despite the hardware limitations of the time.

As mentioned before, there were arcade games being developed for the home consoles. However, the versions that came to these consoles were very different, and often less graphically impressive. For example, the Donkey Kong (1981 & 1982) that was brought to the Atari 2600 was not endorsed by Nintendo nor did they have any input since this was done without their knowledge. There’s also a Pac-Man (1980 & 1982) re-release that undersold the expectations Atari had for it (sold 7 Million, but they produced 12 million total copies, meaning that they under predicted the amount that they were going to sell.)

The notorious game E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) was developed in 5 weeks after the phenomenal blockbuster film by the same name, the game was put under a ton of pressure and was only developed by a singular person. The game was so rushed, that there was no player testing/feedback for it, which led to tons of graphical errors and the overall game being terrible. The game was returned so much that they had to remove it from stores, and the remaining copies of the game were disposed and buried elsewhere.

The Third Generation (1983-1990)

This was the start of the soft rivalry between Sega and Nintendo, which would later emerge into the console wars. International releases of the Famicon they had to change the console to be labelled as an “entertainment system” so that audiences didn’t link it to the bad fame of the Atari 2600. And thus, the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) was born!

Technological Innovations:

-Introduction of the 8-bit microprocessor.

-Scrolling background and sprites.

-Enhanced sound through dedicated audio processors (e.g NES’s APU, which runs on a 894 kHz clock and consists of three unique channels that run independently of each other: (1) the pulse wave channel, (2) triangle wave channel, and (3) noise channel)

-Ability to save game progress using internal game cartridges. (Which would last up to 5 or more years.)

Game Development:

-Developers could now create larger, more detailed worlds. Scrolling, multi-level platformers.

-The Nintendo Seal of Quality ensured that Third Party game developers had produced quality games, to set it aside from the Atari 2600’s fame of having many lackluster and often copy pasted games.

-The development costs also started to rise during this time.

Player Experience:

-Games became more engaging and interactive, with more storytelling and adventure focused games releasing (Such as Mario Bros. Legend of Zelda, and Final Fantasy.)

-Home consoles started competing with arcades in terms of quality.

NES commercial

(This advertisement also shows that multiplayer and overall quality of their software was one of the main drivers for Nintendo to promote their console to their audiences.)

The User Interface (UI) That we see in the original Legend of Zelda (1986) was one of the first steps in the industry to display information to the player such as your Life and Items.

Zelda UI

A good example of the technological advancements for this generation would be Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988) and Final Fantasy II (1988), with their scrolling background allowing the player to feel like they’re progressing through the level as well as the complexity of various numbers appearing on screen such as HP bars as well as the damage inflicted to the bosses.

Mario 3 Final Fantasy 2

Another game that I would like to mention is Mega Man 2 (1988), Specifically in this boss fight we see that the boss is significantly bigger than Mega Man. This is actually a genius play from Capcom since the hardware limitations wouldn’t allow for bosses to be much bigger than the player characters. So as a work around, they made the background pitch black and made the boss a part of the background, which would only work if the background was black. This “feature” was so beloved by fans, that games like Shovel Knight use this nowadays as a “call back” to this revolutionary feature.

The Fourth Generation (1987-1994)

Technological Advancements:

-Transition to the 16-bit microprocessors.

-Better graphics and audio, which allowed for more colours, sprites, and multi-layer scrolling backgrounds.

-Introduction to Mode 7 (Nintendo’s scaling and rotation graphics mode, creating many levels of depth with the scenery.)

-Introduction of handheld devices such as the Gameboy.

Game Development:

-Games featured richer, more immersive environments.

-Game design evolved with more intricate level designs, character development, and strategic gameplay.

-Mode 7 allowed developers to simulate 3D environments.

Player Experience:

-Players experienced more immersive worlds and sophisticated narratives.

-More complex control schemes added depth to the gameplay.

-This also started the “console wars”

We could also see the different marketing strategies that appeared from both Sega and Nintendo, with Sega’s marketing revolving around their exclusives and games that would only be able to be played with their console, giving the feel that consumers would be missing out if they didn’t get their console. Nintendo’s marketing focused around the feeling that the player would have when playing with their console, ensuring quality games as well as a feeling of immersion.

We can also see Nintendo’s controller resembling a similar layout than the ones we have today. Such as the A,B,X,Y buttons being the same across all following Nintendo controllers, the Start Select buttons being in the middle, the D-Pad being on the left side of the controller and the shoulder buttons being at the top. This simplistic approach to the controller allows for players to be able to pick it up at any time and play SNES games whenever they want to!, however it does cramp your hands after long playing sessions so be careful!

We once again look at Capcom’s Mega ManX3 (1995) for utilizing the new colour pallet presented by the console to immerse the player in feeling threatened by them being alone in a room with the Boss. Thanks to this jump in technology, bosses no longer needed to be background assets, which allows boss fights such as the one against Sigma (seen below) feel so much more intimidating.

Other games such as Super Mario Kart (1992) and Final Fantasy VI (1992) made good use of Mode 7 and background work to simulate a 3D environment, such as moving in a racing field, and getting close to the empire’s fortress respectively. These games are an amazing example of companies using the limitations of the hardware of the time to create immersion for their players, allowing for both visually pleasing games, as well as a connection with the environment of the game to resonate with the players.

Star Fox (1993) was a fast paced game that featured 3D Polygons, however there was no way for the SNES to have been able to handle it. So, as a solution, Nintendo made the Mario Chip (Super FX) in order to allow this game to run on the console at a stable framerate. This was truly one of those games that was revolutionary, especially considering that it came out at the end of the console generation. Looking back at it now, it is fascinating how they got this to work, especially when knowing that the next big step for the industry would be 3D graphics and movement.

The Fifth Generation (1994-2001)

Technological Innovations:

-Transition from 2D to 3D gaming. A huge emphasis on 3D polygons.

-Introduction of optical discs (CD-ROM) for greater storage, leading to longer, more detailed games.

-Analogue controls for smoother 3D movement (Super Mario 64)

-Consoles that were made more than just gaming consoles, such as the PlayStation 1.

Game Development:

-3D Environments and open-world design became a reality.

-The larger storage capacity of CDs allowed developers to add full-motion video (FMV), CD quality soundtracks and voice acting (a great example of this would be SquareSoft/SquareEnix with Final Fantasy 7)

-Larger development costs and teams.

Player Experience:

-Players Engaged with more immersive 3D worlds and experienced greater freedom in exploration.

-Optical Discs allowed more storage, paving the way for cinematic storytelling.

Controllers were also a hot topic. With Sony’s PlayStation 1 controller mimicking the simplicity of the SNES and NES controller but allowing for more user comfortability with handles for players with bigger hands allowed for hours of gameplay without your hands getting cramped (Thank you!). However, Nintendo’s N64 controller continues the trend of serving its purpose, but having a weird feel to it. Despite the analogue stick being amazing for games such as Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the controller does feel a bit off to use for long play sessions.

Controller Comparison

In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998), the developers thought of a genus and revolutionary idea for an action packed game with many enemies on the field. The Z button on the N64 controller was used to lock into specific targets to be able to focus your attention and direct your attacks to, or even guard with your shield at specific angles to avoid enemy attacks!

Z lock feature

Half way through the fifth generation, Nintendo and Sony did a revision of their controllers, with Nintendo’s questionable Rumble Pack aiming to have even more of an immersive feel to the game, and Sony’s controller now having two joysticks (which will become a staple for years to come) which allowed users to move even more freely within the 3D environments.

Revisited controllers

Alien Resurrection (2001) was a game who’s developers knew how to take advantage of the revisited PS1 controller, with movement done with the left analogue stick and now being able to move the camera with the right analogue stick. This game was critised for being too complicated because of the controls. However, nowadays, this is also viewed as a staple in games which allow players to move the camera (Just because it’s criticized doesn’t mean it’s bad!)

Alien Invasion

Posted October 31, 2024 by Rodrigo Vicente Ribeiro in category LB433

RodrigoVicenteBlog

Technological History of Video Games

The First Generation (1972-1977)

Technological Innovations:

Game Development:

Player Experience:

The Second Generation (1976-1983)

Technological Innovations:

Game Development:

Player Experience:

The Third Generation (1983-1990)

Technological Innovations:

Game Development:

Player Experience:

The Fourth Generation (1987-1994)

Technological Advancements:

Game Development:

Player Experience:

The Fifth Generation (1994-2001)

Technological Innovations:

Game Development:

Player Experience:

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